NORMAL, Ill. – Northwestern’s first trip to Illinois State since 1992 went much the way the previous tilt had, with the Redbirds earning a 64-46 victory over the Wildcats on Friday night. Kendall Hackney led the way for the visitors with 19 points as the ‘Cats (6-2) suffered their second consecutive defeat.

Northwestern faced adversity early as a roster already thinned by several injuries, including the absence of Big Ten Freshman of the Week Maggie Lyon, lost senior forward Dannielle Diamant just 92-seconds into the game.

Illinois State guard Katy Winge opened the game hot from behind the arc, going 4-for-4 to lead the Redbirds to an eight-point advantage in the first 10 minutes.

Northwestern chipped away over the latter stages of the opening half to head into the locker room down 30-25. The ‘Cats limited the home team to 26.7% shooting over the first 20 minutes, but the Redbirds’ advantage in 3-pointers (5-1) and free throws (11-2) earned them the edge.

The two squads came out of the break trading baskets, but each time Northwestern made a run in the second half, Illinois State was up to the challenge. The Wildcats couldn’t get their shots to fall, hitting 22.9 percent from the field over the final 20 minutes, and 27.9 percent for the game.

The Wildcats limited Illinois State star Jamie Russell to eight points on 2-of-6 shooting in the first half, but the Redbirds’ guard caught fire in the second half to finish with 24 points and 10 rebounds for her third double-double of the campaign.

Hackney closed out the game with a Wildcats-high 19 points to go along with eight rebounds. Alex Cohen, in her first start of the campaign in place of the injured Lyon, led Northwestern with nine rebounds and five blocks and added seven points.

Northwestern returns to Evanston for their first home contest in two weeks when they host Bowling Green at Welsh-Ryan Arena on Sunday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. CT.